


Student Athlete

by BSloves1D



Series: Mr. Coach [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Harry is a geek, Louis is a jock, Louis plays soccer, Multi, Past Louis Tomlinson/Stan Lucas - Freeform, Stan is abusive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-05-31 21:44:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15128435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BSloves1D/pseuds/BSloves1D
Summary: The one where Louis is a varsity soccer player and Harry'd rather solve math problems.-or-Louis Tomlinson is the star soccer player at South Bay High School. Harry Styles is a new student. What will Louis do when he realizes he's starting to fall for Harry? What will he do when he realizes his abusive ex, Stan, isn't as supportive as he lets on?





	1. Chapter 1

Louis hates the first day of school. Thankfully, he's a senior which meant this would be his last first day of school (besides college, but he doesn't want to think about that). He tugs on the end of his bookbag as he makes his way down the hallway. He approaches his new locker and opens it.

"Hey, Hot Stuff," Someone says. Louis cringes, already knowing who's behind him. He feels a hand on his shoulder and stiffens. "Hello Lou," Stan whispers in his ear. Louis twists away from him and flicks Stan off.

"Fuck off, Stan, we aren't dating anymore. I'm not scared of you--." Louis' cut off by Stan grabbing his arm roughly. He leans down to Louis' ear.

"Should be, Tomlinson," He whispers. Stan pulls back and smiles at him. He winks at Louis before walking to his first period. Louis hates him. He regrets dating him and Louis wishes Stan would just disappear into the unknown.

Louis sets his bag down and empty its' contents into his locker. He sees a figure approach him from the side. He gulps, praying that it isn't Stan again. However, he's not met with rough hands pushing him or dirty words whispered in his ear. Louis looks up at the stranger and sucks in a breath.

He's gorgeous, Louis'll give him that. His hair is curly and sticks out in strange directions as if he'd ruffled his curls with his hands. He's about medium height, but incredibly lanky. His eyes are covered behind glasses which makes it hardly to tell their color, but Louis' sure they're light, maybe hazel.

"Hi," He mutters. Louis stands and awkwardly coughs. The boy opens the locker next to Louis' and starts emptying his things in it. Louis doesn't recognize the boy, which is strange because the school's small, so everyone pretty much knows everyone else. Louis guesses he's probably an underclassman, but he gives off older vibes. However, he still carries the nervousness of a freshman.

"What grade are you in," Louis blurts. The question spills from him without thinking. Louis instantly wishes he could take back the sentence and run, but it's too late. The boy turns and looks at him. Now, Louis can tell that his eyes are green, a warm and welcoming green.

"Uh, I'm a senior. I'm new," He explains. Louis nods. That makes sense. They awkwardly stare at each other a moment longer. Louis coughs. The boy throws him a lopsided grin. Louis raises his eyebrows, trying to find an escape. "My name's Harry," He says softly. Louis glances at Harry and finds him partly hiding behind his locker door. 

"I'm Louis Tomlinson," He replies. Louis' on the soccer team, which is kind of a big deal. Most people know him because he plays on the varsity team. However, most people know him as 'Tomlinson' or '8' and not by his first name. So, he's gotten used to responding by his last name or introducing himself as that, but Louis knows he wants to introduce himself fully to this boy. Louis doesn't want Harry to forget him.

"Well, uh, it's very nice meeting you, Louis Tomlinson. I've better get going if I'm ever going to figure out this stupid schedule," Harry sighs. Louis raises an eyebrow and gestures for him to hand it over. Harry gives him a small smile before passing it. He's got a lovely smile.

Louis looks it over quickly, recognizing the names easily. He sees that they have a few classes together and his heart instantly beats a little faster. Louis points towards Harry's first period teacher and thanks him. "You get used to the building after a while, I'm sure you're a quick learner," Louis suggests. Harry blushes and glances down.

"I should get going. I don't want to make a bad impression on my first day," Harry says. Louis nods. He looks at Louis one more time and smiles before walking towards his first period. Louis stares absentmindedly at his locker before he's interrupted by, yet another, set of hands.

"Big fat seniors, huh? Can't wait till this year's over. This place is a living hell," Zayn mutters. Louis rolls his eyes. Zayn's always been overly dramatic. He wraps an arm around Louis' neck and pulls him towards Zayn for a proper hug. Louis buries his face in Zayn's shoulder, taking in his scent, well, the smell of cigarettes anyway.

"Really, it's not even first period and you've already smoked," Louis chastises. He shrugs. Zayn pulls a pack out of his pocket to show Louis and then tucks it back in after. He's lucky he hasn't gotten caught with it on him by any of the admin or staff. That would be if they even cared.

"You know I get nervous. First day back with all these assholes, I'll need a pack before I get my anxiety to calm the fuck down. I haven't gotten my hands to stop shaking all morning," Zayn explains. Louis gives him a small nod, not really following the conversation.

Louis' mind's still with the boy from earlier. He's so pretty. He's never seen a guy like that before. Perfect milky skin and loose curls; plump, pink lips almost begging for Louis to kiss them. Harry's small and innocent, the exact opposite of Stan.

"You look distracted, Stan come over? I told you I'm not scared to beat his ass. If he lays one finger on you I'll break him in two," Zayn threatens. Louis waves him off. Zayn's been with Louis since the beginning. Stan's always been an asshole and Zayn's warned Louis many times to stay away from Stan, but he always goes crawling back anyway. Zayn gave up warning Louis after the third time.

"No, we'd better get to class if we don't want to be late," Louis sighs. 


	2. Chapter 2

Louis huffs and takes a few steps back as he looks at the black and white soccer ball. He imagines the ball is Stan's face as he runs towards it and kicks it into the net. 

Stan had pestered Louis all day. He'd been hanging around Louis and whispering things in his ear like the insect he is. Louis wishes he could just punch the bloke, but Louis' trying to stay out of detention this year. 

So, instead of punching Stan like he wants to he finds himself standing in the soccer field kicking balls around. His coach told him that whenever Louis needs to blow off steam that the field's open to him. Coach explained that it was one of the perks of being the captain. 

"That's a... goal? I think it's a goal anyway," A voice says. Louis steps forward and trips on the ball in front of him. He lands on his ass, probably staining his white shorts. He turns, ready to chew out whoever dared to interrupt his private soccer practice. 

Of course, the boy looked more relaxed then he had that morning. His hair is significantly less bouncy as it was earlier, but still sits in tight ringlets around his head. Louis notices how pink his lips are and Louis guesses it's from a nervous lip-biting habit. 

"It's a goal," Louis confirms. He wants to be mad at the boy, but he can't bring himself to be. Harry's just too damn cute to stay mad at. 

"Good, I'd be kind of embarrassed if I messed up the... terminology while trying to impress you," Harry laughs. Harry pushes his hands into his pockets and gives Louis a side ways smile. 

"Why're you trying to impress him," Louis questions. Louis doesn't spare Harry any more looks and instead focuses on kicking the balls into the net. He's worried that if he looks at Harry he'll see the blush creeping onto his face. 

Everyone at the school pretty much knew Louis was gay. Stan made sure to tell everyone when they were and when they weren't together. Nobody really treated Louis any different after they found out and Louis guesses that being on the varsity soccer team for three years definitely helped. 

The only thing that worried Louis was Harry. Stan was popular, so when they came out together nobody could really touch them. They both knew pretty much everyone in the school. Harry was new, so if they got together Louis worried that Harry would get teased. Harry just didn't have the kind of protection that Stan and Louis have. 

"I don't know, figure that if I had befriended the varsity soccer player then I'd be pretty well off," Harry explains. Louis chuckles quietly. It was a solid plan.  

"Well, considered me impressed," Louis laughs. Louis turns to look at Harry and gestures for them to pass the ball a little. Harry immediately frowns and shakes his head. 

"I'm way too clumsy for soccer. I'd definitely fall straight on my ass," Harry admits. Louis takes a second to imagine the situation and concludes that Harry would be the type to fall on his ass while passing a soccer ball. 

"I can believe that," Louis jokes. Harry rolls his eyes as Louis passes the ball to him. The ball rolls slowly towards Harry. He stops it hesitatingly and then passes it back to Louis. "You aren't too bad." 

"So, I never would've thought you'd be the kind of guy that'd join theater," Harry says. They continue to pass the ball back and forth as they continue their conversation. 

"I could say the same for you. You seem shy." Harry shrugs and passes the ball back to Louis. 

Harry admits, "I needed the fine arts credit." Louis smiles. "What about you? I mean, you're a big 'ole jock, what are you doing in theater with all the geeks," Harry teases. 

"Excuse you! I happen to be a theater geek myself! Been in the program since freshman year," Louis says. "What about you? You seemed to be paying a whole lot of attention in history."

Harry blushes shyly and shrugs, passing the ball to Louis again. "History's interesting. I like learning about how other people lived and stuff," Harry insists. Louis reaches up and flicks his hair out of his eyes. 

"History's just about boring facts and dusty books," Louis replies. Harry crosses his arms across his chest and glares at Louis teasingly. 

"You'd also say that math is just a bunch of boring numbers and equations," Harry states. Louis doesn't see what Harry's trying to prove. Math _is_  a bunch of boring numbers and equations. Louis' sure that whoever invented math probably invented it to torture kids. Louis has the hardest time paying attention in math, especially with the math teachers he's had. His teacher last year was so boring even she started to fall asleep and she was teaching. 

"So, besides being graced with my presence, who else have you met," Louis questions. Louis figures that any conversation is better then talking about math. Besides, Louis knew nearly everyone at the school and could probably warn Harry on who to avoid. 

"Not many people. I'm not actually very social if you haven't guessed already. There was a guy in my science class that was pretty cool," Harry starts. "I think his name's Edward, but he goes by Ed." 

Louis almost throws up. He hates the guy so much that he'd much rather talk about math then Ed Sheeran. Louis' been in school with the bloke since elementary school and Ed's always found a way to push Louis' buttons. 

"Fruit Loop, seriously? Do yourself a favor and stay far away from him," Louis suggests. 

"You call him Fruit Loop?" 

"Yea, he's got bright red hair and once in third grade he used fruity shampoo so everyone started calling him that. He hates it," Louis says. He'll admit that coming up with the nickname is probably one of Louis' proudest moments. 


	3. Chapter 3

As usual, Louis finds himself scrolling through Facebook that night. He's trying his best to avoid doing his homework for as long as humanly possible. It's not like Louis has a lot of work to do and it isn't dire, so Louis doesn't feel _that_  bad for skipping out on it. Besides, it's not like Louis' actually going to use calculus in the future anyway. 

Louis scrolls through his feed and likes a few of his friends' pictures. He stops as he sees the 'People You May Know' bar. He huffs and decides that he could use a few more friends. The first name Louis sees is one that makes his mouth go dry. 

Stanley Lucas. 23 mutual friends. Add friend?

Louis clicks the 'x' next to his name and has to put his phone down for a moment. Stan and Louis were an on-again-off-again kind of couple. They first got together sophomore year. For a while they were the 'It' couple and everyone figured they'd be high school sweethearts. That was before the abuse started. It only took a few weeks for Stan to go from sweet to horrible. Stan became paranoid and obsessive. He looked through Louis' phone and would call him a whore and hit him for every guy Louis texted, even if it was just a friendly conversation. When Louis threatened to leave Stan, Stan would sweet-talk Louis into staying. The cycle continued all through sophomore and junior year. Just last summer, Louis swore off the guy for good. 

Louis scrolls through the recommended list and stops as he sees a name he recognizes. 

Harry Styles. 2 mutual friends. Add friend?

Louis takes a moment to examine Harry's profile picture. The boy is standing in front of a brown-brick wall and wears a large smile. His hair is curly and brown and looks incredibly soft. Louis wants nothing more than to tangle his fingers through it. He wears a purple 'Jack Wills' sweater and his eyes shine. 

Louis attempts to click on Harry's profile and casually look through it, but accidentally clicks the 'add friend' button. His heart rate increases as he sees the request went through. Shit. He sucks in a few deep breaths and tries to come up with a plan. If he takes back the friend request it won't do anything, Harry'll still get the notification. If he blocks Harry he, probably, will still get the notification. Shit, shit, shit. Louis' heart races and he's sure this is what a heart attack feels like. 

His phone dings and Louis almost drops it. His heart hammers in his chest as he opens the Facebook notification. 'Respond to your 1 friend request', Louis opens the 'Find Friends' bar and sees that Harry Styles' name is sitting at the top. Louis clicks confirm just as he gets another notification. 'Harry Styles has confirmed your friend request'. Shit. This is good right? 

Louis' heart continues to race as he sees he has a message. He clicks on it and opens the notification to see a message from Harry. 

**Harry Styles: Hey! Ur profile picture is so cool**

Cool. Cool is good. Louis wants to seem cool. He takes in a breath and tries to act cool. 

**You: Thanks Urs is 2 ig**

Louis thinks that sounds cool enough. He doesn't want to seem clingy or too excited. 

**Harry Styles: Thanks! Mine's alright. Urs is super mysterious. The eyes, the lip pout, totally going to make every1 fall in love with you xD I kind of look like a baby in mine lol**

**You: no! U look cute 2**

**Harry Styles: Lol ig. wycm?**

**You: I don't have ur #**

**Harry Styles: 1 sec**

Louis' heart hammers as Harry sends Louis his number. Louis adds Harry as a contact in his phone and calls him soon after. 

 _"Hey. Sorry, I'm not the biggest fan of texting,"_  Harry says. Louis laughs quietly and imagines Harry texting him. 

"It's fine. I don't mind calling," Louis replies. Neither have anything to say and, for a while, they just sit and listen to each other breathing. Louis suggests, "Why don't we ask each other questions? I'm shit at listing things about myself." 

 _"Okay, I'll go first. What's your favorite color,"_  Harry asks. Louis shakes his head. Rookie mistake. Everyone goes for the color question first. Louis likes to go in strong for the first question to really get things going. 

"Blue. Have you ever had a girlfriend before," Louis questions. The word 'girlfriend' sounds foreign coming from Louis' lips. He can't remember the last time he's said the word out loud. Usually, the word reminds Louis of middle school, when he was still in the closet and dated Eleanor Calder. It was an awkward two weeks. 

 _"Um... no. I'm not actually... uh... no girlfriends... I mean I'm... not into girls. So, no, I haven't had a girlfriend,"_  Harry stammers. Louis' heart sky rockets. That's good. If Harry's gay then that means that if Louis  _wanted_ to get with Harry then it was a possibility. It's not like there's a ton of gay guys in their class and having one more adds to the pool of things. 

"Oh, cool. Me too."

 _"Serious? That's... I didn't expect that,"_ Harry responds. 

"You actually thought I was straight," Louis asks. He doesn't know how anyone sees him as straight. Everyone always assumes it because Louis' into sports, but gay guys can play sports too. He guesses that it also has to do with his personality. Most people expect gay guys to be loud and feminine, but Louis' far from it. 

 _"Yea, I don't know. I don't like to assume,"_  Harry says. 

The two spend the rest of the night talking. When they finally decide on hanging up, Louis notices that it's half-past three and he doesn't even feel a little bad. 


	4. Chapter 4

It's been too long since Louis’ spent the night at Zayn’s. They used to spend every Friday night alternating between each other’s houses. As long as they got to hang out they didn’t care what house they were at. With Zayn being most of the summer, they had to put a halt on their Friday hang outs.

“Pass the soda,” Zayn says. They sit on Zayn’s couch playing video games. Louis usually brings over FIFA for them to play, but he forgot it. The game’s a shooter game, usually games that Louis doesn’t like. He’s not great at it either and he hardly has any points.

Louis gladly puts the controller down and grabs the two-liter of soda and passes it to Zayn. Zayn pauses the game and pours himself a cup.

“So, senior year,” Zayn sighs. Louis lets himself relax into Zayn’s massive couch. He runs his hands over the fabric and huffs.

“Can’t believe we’re gonna be adults and stuff,” Louis admits.

He doesn’t like the idea of growing up. His mother tells him that he better get used to it since he turns 18 in a couple of months, but the idea of adulthood makes him anxious. Louis doesn’t want to live alone and pay bills and go to college. It all sounds like a ton of responsibility that Louis isn't ready for.

“End of senior year, we’re booking it. Get an apartment in LA. I’ll start working on my art and you can play soccer somewhere. We’re the dream team,” Zayn sighs. “I need a smoke.”

Louis follows Zayn to the back patio. Zayn pulls a pack of cigs out of his pocket and lights one. He takes a few drags and offers it to Louis.

“Nah, I’m not trying to get hooked to that shit,” Louis says. Zayn shrugs and takes another drag from the cigarette.

The only thing about Zayn that bothers Louis is his smoking habit. Zayn picked it up in sophomore year when his mental health had gone to shit. Cigarettes seemed to be the only thing that calmed down Zayn’s anxiety and depression. Now, he’s stuck with dying lungs and the smell of smoke.

“That’s the great part about being an artist. Nobody gives a shit how many hard drugs you do. When you’re an athlete, it seems to be everyone’s fucking business what you put in your body. I don’t know how the fuck you do it,” Zayn curses.

Louis doesn’t want to answer the question in fear of hurting his friend’s feelings. Artists can do drugs and harm their body because people aren’t there for their bodies. People pay artists for their art, not themselves. Nobody cares what artists looks like as long as they get something to hang in their houses. Athletes get paid for being physically fit. They get paid based on how well they perform athletically. Of course, some athletes us drugs to enhance their abilities, but Louis  figures that if you have actual talent you don't need drugs to enhance it. That’s how Louis’ always seen it anyway.

“You do what you have to do,” Louis sighs.

They sit in silence. Louis watches the pool water rise and fall with the wind. He can smell the smoke from Zayn’s cigs starting to wrap itself around Louis and settle onto his clothes. Louis knows that he’ll have to wash his clothes before he gets home. If his mom smells him now she’ll probably kill him.

“So, since you’re, finally, done with Stan. Do you have your eye on anyone? I can set you up, you know how good I am as Cupid.” Zayn lets the cig dangle from his mouth as he pretends to shoot a bow and arrow at Louis’ heart. Louis rolls his eyes.

“Not really,” Louis says.

Of course, it’s a lie. Louis’ been talking to Harry for nearly a week now over Facebook. Every time he gets a Facebook notification his heart jumps because it might be Harry. They’ve called a few times and Louis physically relaxes when he hears Harry’s voice. They’ve known each other a little over a week and Louis already feels like he could tell Harry anything.

“Liar.”

Zayn shakes his head at Louis, obviously seeing past the lie. They’ve been friends for so long Louis’d be offended if Zayn didn’t see that Louis’ lying.

“Spill it!”

Louis’ not sure if he wants to tell Zayn quite yet about Harry. Louis’ never dated anyone other than Stan. Louis doesn’t want Zayn to tease him about it. Harry’s on the geekier side, but that’s one of the things that Louis likes about him.

“Louis, come on! Don’t be a piss baby about it,” Zayn teases. He playfully shoves Louis and Louis shoves him back. Zayn takes another drag of his cig before putting it out.

“Pressuring me, is not going to make me tell you!” Zayn glares at him and Louis slumps. “Fine. Harry Styles,” Louis answers. Zayn turns on him.

“Who the fuck is Harry Styles?”

Louis forgot that Harry’s new. Hardly anyone knows him at the school besides Louis. Harry admits to having a hard time making friends. Louis assures him that they’ll fix that soon enough. At South Bay, it doesn’t take long for everyone to know everyone.

“He’s the new guy from Blackwell. He’s a little geeky, but he has a cool personality,” Louis explains. Zayn thinks for a moment then nods.

“I think I’ve seen him in the halls. I’ll admit, I never thought you’d go for a guy like that. He’s a real twink. I figure you’d want a guy more… built,” Zayn offers. Louis shrugs. Usually, Louis goes for guys with a little more muscle, but it’s not a problem with Harry.

“I mean, usually, I like a guy that’s more athletic too. I don’t know what it is about him. He’s shy, but so sweet. His personality is so fun and he’s got a great mind,” Louis says. He tries to stop himself from blushing. Louis hates that he blushes just while thinking about the other boy.

Zayn turns to look at him with a shocked expression. “I’ve never heard you compliment a guy on his mind before. What’s this boy turned you into,” Zayn jokes. Louis shrugs.  

_A complete sap._


End file.
